Crystal Heart
by DiscardedAngel
Summary: A Crystal, A Heart, A Girl. What do they have in common? Well, that would be telling... First episode of my personal series, I admit that the episodes get better as you go through them. And that I suck at summaries.
1. Snow

**Extremly disheartening but I don't own Storm Hawks :(**

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Aerrow opened his eyes, moments before he had been falling towards the unknown terra, luckily he had landed on a very large amount of snow, breaking his fall.

He panicked suddenly, any moment the Dark Ace would find him.

It took a moment for him to realise the sky was white, then he saw the girl crouched next to him.

"Next time, I suggest a parachute, hmmm?" the girl said, rubbing ointment onto his head. "Who… who are you? And what's up with the sky?" Aerrow stuttered, his voice unexpectantly fragile.

"It doesn't matter who I am, and I think you'll find those are my wings, not the sky." She replied calmly, he studied her, she wore white clothing with her emerald eyes and white hair, it was easy to understand why he hadn't seen her while falling through the air.

"_AERROW!"_ a distance voice shouted, to Aerrow it brought visions of a dark haired girl, why was it so hard to remember her name?

"Is she with you?" The white clad stranger asked. Suddenly Piper flew into his head and he recalled his squadron. "Yes, I… I need to find her" he replied.

"Okay, keep the ointment… Aerrow" with a nod she stood up and disappeared into the snow filled landscape.

Two minutes later Piper found him, "Thank god, we thought the Dark Ace had got you…"

**Two days later**

Stork gazed out the window. The morning was calm although they flew through slight sleet.

Finn and Junko were sat on the floor playing checkers while Piper and Aerrow checked the maps on the table, Radarr spent his time snoozing in the corner.

--

A sudden crash outside on the Condor commanded everyone's attention.

"What was that?" Piper exclaimed, they all gathered by the window to see a crashed skimmer and a crying girl.

"What am I going to do?" She sobbed to herself as they rushed outside; she barely processed them stood there until Piper started talking.

"Are you alright?" Piper said concerned.

"I…I don't know" the girl replied between sobs, Piper could see a large pool of blood behind the girl and gasped, she motioned with her hand to the others.

"Okay lets start small, what's your name?" Aerrow asked.

"My name is… Lypix. What am I going to do? They have it now!"

"What do they have?" Finn barged in.

Suddenly the girl stopped crying, "Does it matter?" She replied coldly. In one fluid motion she grabbed Finn and pulled out one of her swords to his neck.

"Guys!" He gasped, and everyone took a step forwards.

"Ah, I don't think so" Lypix said, "Take a step back"

"What do you want?" Aerrow said through clenched teeth.

"I need that crate of crystals you stole from Master Cyclonis, and I need them now" She motioned to Junko. "You, fetch them" He quietly backed off to get them.

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Welcome to the first episode in my series!!!

Will Finn get it? Read on and find out!


	2. Capture

However what she didn't know was that Stork had not left his helm and had seen everything from the window. Putting the Condor on autopilot he went into one of his boxes. Some people might think he was paranoid but he had a box for every occasion, 'Hostage Situation' was just one of these boxes.

Out of it he pulled a small hollow stick into which he loaded a dart. Very slowly he crept to an open window, took aim, and blew the dart straight at the intruder, it hit her in the neck and Finn felt her let go and fall.

"Very good thinking Stork!" Aerrow shouted, it was lucky for them Stork was always ready for anything.

"Let's get her tied up, before she wakes up" he suggested, disgusted they'd almost been so easily fooled.

--

Everyone but Stork and Junko sat waiting for her to wake up. They had no need to worry, the chair she was bound in was made out of very strong wood.

Her black hair fell over her face masking its calmness, Aerrow thought to himself he'd seen her somewhere before, outside her green eyes had reminded him of someone.

Piper noted her clothes, Lypix had a red striped top with a black one over the top of it. She wore black shorts and fingerless gloves, her weapons consisted of two orange crystal swords and a blue belt which held several blue stars, Piper still didn't know what these did but had a feeling she would know soon enough.

The atmosphere in the room shifted as she stirred, blinking her eyes several times as she grimaced at the pain in her back, on examination they hadn't found the cause of the blood but the area obviously hurt.

"Did Master Cyclonis send you?" Aerrow asked quietly.

"Hmm? Oh, yes" Lypix stopped with a look of horror on her face, "I've got to go!" She started testing the rope for weak spots. Finding none she turned back to the Storm Hawks facing her.

"You're not going anywhere, so you better tell us exactly who you are." Aerrow replied.

"If I don't go they are going to kill me" Lypix pleaded in a helpless voice.

"They won't find you here" Piper reassured.

"They don't have to find me to kill me!" She subsided into the sobbing they had witnessed when she had landed.

"Why did you crash into us?" Finn asked bluntly, Lypix stopped crying.

"The… the Dark Ace, he attacked me, why, why didn't I stay away!" She cried.

"But if Master Cyclonis sent you why did the Dark Ace attack you?" Aerrow asked confused.

"Because I hadn't attacked you! They figured out where I'm getting all the crystals from and now I can't go home!!" Lypix seemed angrier than upset now and Radarr had retreated to the far side of the room.

"Why haven't you attacked us?" Piper asked cautiously

"Why do you think? You're Storm Hawks and it would be like biting myself, your predecessors set us free." Lypix started to rock the chair anxious to escape.

"Who are…" Piper started but Finn jumped in, "You said they had something of yours. What is it? Something valuable?" he asked excitedly.

Lypix just shook her head, "It's true what they say about you being obnoxious."

A distant rumble stirred in the room, _"I pray I'm not interrupting, but there are some Talons outside who could do with some attention."_ Stork sighed over the intercom.

"Come on Storm Hawks, we have to go!" Aerrow prompted.

"They're going to take me" Lypix muttered sadly, "I'm sorry for what I have to do."

They acknowledged what she said but rushed out the room.


	3. Dark Heart

Quickly Lypix whistled to the blue stars and they curled away from the belt. With her changing pitches the stars ended up embedded in the rope cutting her free. She put the belt on and placed the blue stars back on. Grabbing both her swords she put them on her back wincing at the pain.

Stealthy creeping along the corridors was easier then she thought. Thanks to studying the blueprints on the Condor she carefully navigated her way towards the hold where her slightly crumpled skimmer waited. She sighed, twirling a discarded spanner in her hands. It didn 't take long for her to repair the essentials, Lypix muttering a words of thanks towards to the Talons, however much they were associated to Master Cyclonis, for the distraction.

Lypix climbed on her skimmer and prepared to go when, hardly believing her eyes, she saw the crate of crystals she needed. She hauled them onto her skimmer and kicked it into gear.

However the base of a staff pushed neatly into her neck made her stop.

"Piper, the clever one" Lypix repeated from her mental notes, "You can't really have expected me to stay?"

"No, but I was just starting to understand you. Now I just pity you" Piper replied quietly.

Leaning closer to Piper she whispered _"They have my crystal heart."_

This made Piper gasp in the shadows and Lypix took her chance to speed away, she shed a tear, not sure whether it was to the cold wind or her forced betrayal.

--

Dinner was gloomy that night, not only had they lost Lypix but they had been forced to retreat thanks to the Talons.

Aerrow stared at Piper, he wasn't the only one. She seemed really happy about something and it took him a while to ask her what it was.

"Oh I'm so sorry guys!" she replied cheerily, but sobered up slightly. "I've-" but before she could continue a sudden explosion hit the Condor.

"I can't see anything!" Stork exclaimed desperatly searching the skies.

"I can't either!" Finn added panicked.

A drastic hole suddenly appeared in their side. The Storm Hawks drew their weapons as a man entered, but the man just held up his hands, "Sorry about you ship, couldn't find the door" He Grinned.

"Oh don't worry about it, we get random attacks which cause a lot of damage _all_ the while" Stork replied sarcastically.

"My name is Midnight and I'm looking for Lypix" He said ignoring Stork's comment.

"I'm afraid you've missed her, the Cyclonions took her" Piper answered sadly.

"Well we will have to see about that then won't we." he smiled again.

"Even if we find her she still can't be helped, they have her heart." Piper explained.

"What if I knew where the heart is kept?" Midnight replied.

"Wait a minute they have her heart?" Aerrow asked confused.

"Yes, she's a Crystal Drone" Piper answered with glee.

"We prefer Crystal Angels, thank you very much" Midnight sniffed.

"Sorry- what exactly _is_ a Crystal Angel?" Junko asked even more confused.

"We are a race created hundreds of years ago by a crystal specialist. The originals became slaves of Werenheimer right up until they were freed by the previous Storm Hawks. We settled on a Terra but Werenheimer's Grandaughter saught revenge and attempted to wipe us out. Only our current Queen who lead us to safety, and few others survived. We have anyone who calls themselves Storm Hawks to thank for our freedom, and our Queen to thank for our lives." Midnight finished with a bow.

"How many are there?" Piper asked hopeful for more information on the Crystal Angels.

"Not many, only fourteen and I'm the oldest. In fact Lypix is your kind of age and led us away from the battle very valiantly" he smiled at the memory.

"Wait, Lypix is your Queen?" Piper gasped in horror, they had just drugged her and tied her up, what must she have thought?!

"Don't worry, she doesn't like being treated like one. In fact we are getting a couple of Sky knight squadrons together and she doesn't want anything to do with it. Said she didn't like being reminded of the people who died all those years ago. If she didn't feel like she had to check on us every now and then I think she would disappear altogether" he shook his head "But we have greater things to deal with!"


	4. Rescue

"Let me get this right, you want us to break into Terra Cyclonia and find Master Cyclonis who can use the crystal heart not to mention all the crystals she has and her army against us. Stork's going to have a heart attack" was Aerrow answer to Midnight's plan.

"Pretty much" Midnight smiled; he did a lot of smiling for someone with dark hair, eyes and clothes.

"How will we even get in there? We only have the Condor which they will see coming miles off." Piper exclaimed.

"Well, you didn't see us coming. And I was thinking we could maybe use _The Sunset_ to get in" Midnight said slyly.

"How… So that's why we couldn't see anyone, but what do you use?" Piper wondered.

"we have a crystal garden back home, Lypix is the only one who lives there anymore but she doesn't mind use using some, we use invisibility crystals" Midnight replied.

"Why don't we use these crystals to hid ourselves and get closer to Master Cyclonis?" Aerrow suggested.

"Why not?" Midnight answered.

"Who's going to rescue Lypix?" Junko asked, he'd been very quiet all day.

"I'll do it" Finn piped up.

"I can send a couple of mine with you, Jandso and Eci should do the trick" Midnight answered.

"One question Midnight" Aerrow said, "who protected me in the snow the two days ago?"

"That'll be Lypix. No one else has left the Sunset for weeks" he replied.

"But Lypix has black hair and this girl had white hair" Aerrow seemed confused.

"She has royal blood, she can change her hair colour and has the purest white wings" Midnight said in a trance.

Piper gasped, "That's what the blood was! They cut her wings" she said in horror.

"Then this is a very grave situation indeed, her wings will regrow almost instantly but the feathers will be black. It is a dangerous insult to damage a Queen Crystal Angel's wings, they will pay for this" he resounded to a dark growling voice.

"So… what do you guys use as weapons?" Finn asked, so far he had seen no evidence they even fought at all.

"We're Crystal Angels, we use crystals" Eci replied quietly.

"Whoa! How do you do that?" Finn inquired.

"We can absorb crystal energy which can be used as a weapon. They encase our crystal heart which causes the energy to travel around our bloodstream. The Cyclonions have taken Lypix's crystal heart, so she can't use crystals" Eci answered, her voice sounded like walking on snow.

Finn didn't get what she had just said, but was worried they wouldn't talk to him if he pointed this out.

They continued onwards towards Terra Cyclonia on skimmers while the rest followed in the Sunset, oblivious to anyone who looked in their direction.

"I want this to go smoothly; Lypix's heart depends on it. For our queen!" Midnight finished debriefing his personnel, praying silently Lypix would forgive him for rescuing her heart. Normally she despised others helping her.

The Storm Hawks watched on quietly, hours ago they had attacked Lypix, now the sped away to rescue her. Stork muttered about how it was pure suicide to be on this mission and on this ship away from his beloved Condor.

Midnight suddenly motioned for them all to be quiet, they were approaching, quietly they landed and the Crystal Angels absorbed the invisibility crystals which were an eerie white colour. Soon an invisible entity placed necklaces on the Storm Hawks so they could walk about the same. Strangely, Piper noted, when they were invisible they could see the others and still see themselves. If Piper hadn't seen the Crystal Angels moments before she would have sworn the crystals didn't work.


	5. Crystal in the Dark

Slowly they crept on board, past the Talon guards and at one point, a sleeping Snipe.

Unfortunately they weren't as lucky as they had hoped.

"What do you mean she won't eat anything, she can try and do herself harm but there are other Crystal Angels we can take. Not to mention I could cut her wings again." The Dark Ace shouted at a Talon guard.

It was then Junko tripped over a discarded tool box, the Dark Ace didn't just feel Junko hit the floor but saw him, as his necklace went over his head rendering him visible.

"Um… hi" Junko said. Before the Dark Ace could hit him, Aerrow jumped in for Junko's defence "go, I'll take care of him."

They carried on along the corridor while the alarm went off. Finally they made it to the main room.

"Ah, the Storm Hawks and co. I wondered how long it would take you to arrive" a cold creeping voice belonging to Master Cyclonis said.

"Give us the Crystal Heart" Midnight threatened.

"Why of course" Master Cyclonis answered as she threw the heart to Midnight.

"Should it have been that easy?" Junko asked confused.

"Yes" the Dark Ace replied, while walking in and dumping a fazed Aerrow on the floor.

"Aerrow!" Piper called and ran to his side.

"Storm Hawks I would like you to meet my bride" the Dark Ace announced grabbing a bound body and bringing her into the light, he then pulled off her gag.

"You" Lypix growled.

"We came to save you!" Piper gasped.

"Not you Storm Hawks, him…" Lypix's voice was cracked from hours of misuse.

"This wasn't our deal Master Cyclonis. We keep her and the heart in exchange for the Storm Hawks." Midnight bargained.

"Where's Finn?!" Junko asked alarmed.

"Here" Finn managed to wheeze as the two Crystal Angels dropped him to the floor.

"She has my name on her. Show them your wings, darling" the Dark Ace pushed his fingers between Lypix's shoulder blades forcing her to spread out her wings.

They were a pure radiant white, apart from the D carved in to one wing and the A marked into another.

"It's my future, how about Midnight and I fight for possession?" Lypix muttered darkly, wincing as Midnight absorbed her heart.

"Agreed. Midnight wins, he takes Lypix. She wins, we own her" Master Cyclonis interrupted; she was more interested in the suffering factor than the slavery of a Crystal angel.

A space had been cleared of people in the middle of the room. Midnight and Lypix circled each other, wings open and weapons drawn.

"Why were you born with a black heart Midnight?" Lypix inquired.

"I just want to rid the world of the weak, starting with you" he shot back.

"Just because my great, great, great, great grandparents were from the first batch makes me no weaker than you" Lypix seethed.

"In what way? Your wings are white and your hair changes colour, congratulations. It gives your family no right to rule!" Midnight swung but missed Lypix completely, by now Aerrow and Finn had almost recovered and was staring at wonder at the two winged creatures.

"My family don't rule, I'm all that's left. I never wanted to rule you, why would I want something so evil in my hand?" Lypix said, while regaining her composure.

"The minute we left our Terra, I could see you weren't fit to rule!" Midnight shouted and brought up his red sword up against Lypix's two orange ones.

"Don't make me hurt you" Lypix pleaded, the last thing she wanted was to damage one of the few remaining of her own species.

"Do you know Eci, Kit and Nonte were loyal right until I took their souls?" Midnight taunted.

"You asked for it Midnight" Lypix stabbed.

They twirled around the room in a dance of death, one, two, one two. Midnight caught her arm and she stood back in pain, this gave him the chance he needed for a crushing blow, however she easily dodged it and regained her balance.

"Why won't you just die?!" Midnight asked aspirated.

"Maybe because I won't you dead more!" Lypix shouted back.

Suddenly Midnight caught her swords and flung them to the side, she was left defenceless. Lypix stood back knowing full well the danger of the situation.

"Know its time for what I should have done years ago, your 'highness" Midnight mocked, Lypix just kept going backwards.

"You know what Midnight?" Lypix said.

She ran up and plunged her hand inside his chest which stopped him dead in his tracks. "Bet you didn't know I could do that" she whispered.

Pulling her hand back out, she held two crystals. Midnight just withered to the floor.

"Oh, a brainwashing crystal, maybe I should dispose of it for you Midnight" and with that she smashed it under her foot. This brought round two of the Crystal Angels who before had been stood there gormlessly.

Holding out the brightest, heart shaped crystal she absorbed it, sighing with relief.

"Stop them!" the Dark Ace cried, Lypix looked up, recognising the danger.

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See? I told you I'd explain the blood, the name will come later but you can guess where it comes from.


	6. Deadly Swarm

"Storm Hawks its time to go!" Aerrow shouted.

"Great idea, unfortunately the doors are blocked!" Piper chimed in.

Lypix's eyes darted around, finding what she was after she smashed the nearest window, "this way!"

"Lypix, we can't fly" Finn pointed out.

"So? Eci, Nonte and I can. Also I think your pilot has picked up on the situation"

Sure enough, Stork hovered outside on Junko's skimmer, "need a lift?" he asked with a sly smile.

"Eci take Piper, Nonte take Finn. Aerrow and Radarr come with me" Lypix commanded.

Before any of the Cyclonians could even take one step, the Storm Hawks had been evacuated and were gliding down towards _The Sunset_.

"Wahoo! We're outa here!" Finn triumphed.

"I wouldn't bet on it just yet" The male Crystal Angel called Nonte rumbled.

"I agree, in two minutes the Crystal 'Drones' will have recovered and on their way" Lypix replied, concentrating on her gliding.

"We're sorry Lypix, we tried to resist Midnight but they used a…" Eci tried to splutter.

"I know Eci, and I don't blame either of you for what happened. What happened to Kit though? He said he had her" Lypix questioned.

"She's working on another Terra, I doubt Midnight used the same brainwashing crystal on her, everyone knows what your like" Nonte smiled, the three winged crusaders were just happy to be in each others company again, without a battle scene to view.

They landed and rushed to their skimmers, "what about you guys?" Piper asked.

"Don't worry about us, we've got our own skimmers" Eci grinned.

Two minutes later, several classy rides were on show to the Storm Hawks.

Eci came out first with a white skimmer, lined with what looked like Christmas lights and an emblem of a Christmas tree on the side.

Next was Nonte on a black Skimmer with a white swan etched in.

Finally Lypix came out with a black skimmer which had a red streak down the side.

"Sorry I took so long, they'd shoved it right at the back" she apologized while her hair changed a subtle sky blue, she glanced up and groaned.

"We'd better get going" Lypix announced, turning around Aerrow saw she was right.

Cyclonions where starting to ooze out of every crevice in sight, not to mention the Crystal Angels flying down from the window.

"QAU SAUUM!" the demonic angels chorused in a battle cry of death, they were upon the Storm Hawks just as they were taking off.

Aerrow swerved violently to avoid the nearest one, "go I'll take care of them!" Lypix shouted among the swarm.

"Hey, ugly drones bet ya can't catch me!" she screamed and sped off towards Cyclonia's main tower.

"You heard the girl, move!" Nonte called, as the dark angels followed her flight.

Lypix hit the first one on the head and the second one, a guy where it hurts. However she started to get overrun and then one managed to pull the lever which retracted the wings.

"We need to help her!" Finn shouted above the noise of wind, screams and fighting.

"How? There's too many!" Eci shouted back.

"Oh don't forget about us" a creeping voice declared from behind, Aerrow turned to face the Dark Ace, and about another ten Cyclonions on skimmers.

"Scatter!" Piper shrieked, it was one of the last things they heard before rushing into battle.

Eci blasted several Talons engines with ice crystals from her hands, "heads up Finn" she managed to say to a gormless Finn who was watching in awe.

This prompted him to turn around and blast some more while Aerrow was one on one with the Dark Ace.

"You wont get out of here alive with her you know" the Dark Ace taunted, Aerrow despite his age knew better than to respond badly.

"She seems to be doing very well on her own, maybe she doesn't want to marry you?" Aerrow suggested, this received a strike on his small wing shaped blades, which struggled to keep the weight of the Dark Ace at bay.

"She has no choice, we still have one of her friends, not to mention the other thing" the Dark Ace left it hanging, "maybe I'll leave that for you to find out" and he flew off. Aerrow took it as an omen it was time to go, glancing about he saw that most of the Talons had been picked off and Lypix was swatting the crystal creatures off like flies, however her skimmer was smoking slightly.

"Let's go!" he shouted, and like a tide, they receded.


	7. Remedy

Later on board the Condor everyone had droopy eye syndrome, (as Stork called it. he also added the next symptom was actually falling asleep) and so the Storm Hawks bade a yawnful farewell and said that Eci, Nonte and Lypix could sleep anywhere they could find, this was fine in the view of the Storm Hawks however Lypix was not finished yet.

"Do either of you have the Cure?" Lypix whispered once they were gone.

"Why, what's wrong with yours?" Eci yawned.

"I have only on tribal leaf left and I can't use it or I wont be able to find another" she said aspirated.

"You need tribal leaves for yours? They must be quite strong" Nonte commented.

"that's not all, she requires dark mould, sky seeds and a scale from a blue fanged viper, those, luckily, have been easy to get" Lypix sighed, "I'll just have to use the last one and pray the plant is still in the same place" and with that she took out a small pestle and mortar and began crushing the leaf together with other ingredients.

She poured most of it into a vial which she hung around her neck. Lypix then took a swig of it, grimacing at its bitterness.

"Well I better get some sleep and I'll see you in the morning" and she walked away slowly to find somewhere to sleep.

Early next morning Aerrow got up to catch the other Storm Hawks, he wanted to ask them a question and was sure they would say yes.

Surely enough, Piper, Finn, Junko and Radarr were all keen on the idea of inviting Lypix to become a fellow Storm Hawk. However Stork was not so happy and went on about the strange places she had been, not to mention the diseases she would have picked up and how all the other Crystal Angels had been traitors.

Aerrow kind of knew where he was coming from, the thing the Dark Ace had said still rung in his ears, _"not to mention the other thing", "maybe I'll leave that for you to find out" _but somehow the others managed to convince Stork she would be good for the Condor and could probably get out to the areas he had to have a roped tied round him and climb out onto to fix. This steered Stork's mind dramatically and he was almost smiling when they walked into the main room.

However no one was there.

They looked around the Condor until they found Lypix in the hanger, fixing her skimmer. She was grumbling to herself under her breath, something about a blasted Darius and creating stupid crystals, she looked up when they walked in.

"Sorry I'm still here, I needed to fix my skimmer. The others have already gone, we don't leave anywhere near each other you see." She turned back to the skimmer wrenching out a glowing shard of crystal.

"You don't have to go Lypix" Aerrow probed.

"You don't want me round here all day, I'd only get in the way" Lypix grunted, pulling out another shard.

"Lypix, would you like to join the Storm Hawks?" Finn said bluntly, this made her drop the pliers she was holding.

"You….you…want me?" she stuttered.

"Well, it was a suggestion, if you don't want to…" Aerrow started thinking he'd made a mistake.

"No, its not that, just… you really want me?" Lypix was staring now with open eyes.

"Of course we do silly! You fought yesterday like a true Storm Hawk and if Midnight is now working for Cyclonis we need someone to equal him!" Piper chimed in.

"Then… yes! I'll stay, but do you have room for me?" Lypix reasoned, as a matter of fact they did, a bunk in Piper's room.

Lypix and Piper sat in their room staring out the window.

"Wow, I've never been part of a team before. It's always been me against the world" Lypix breathed.

"Well now your family, one of us" Piper said putting her arm around her shoulder.

And as the Condor sped off towards its next destination, Lypix felt for the first time in her life, she was where she belonged.

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More on the way!!!! hopefully I'll have it up before the 2nd of December - but you never know with my coursework!

Have you guessed who's going to fall for Lypix? Good! - cause i haven't! - thats a good idea actually...

Review and tell me who you would like to see fall for Lypix in the eighth episode,

A) Aerrow

B) Finn

C) Junko

D) Stork

E) Other Character (please ask for someone in particular!)


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